The Smack Pack that wouldn’t Smack

Ricklust · Post by **Ricklust** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 10:00 am

3
Recently I used a Wyeast 1084 "smack pack" to ferment a 3 gallon IRA. Well I smacked that pack at least 10 times but the illusive nutrient pack inside never broke. I chased it around and smacked for a few minutes then gave up.
Was worried I would eventually break and waste the whole pouch. So I just cut the sanitized pack open and snipped the nutrient pack open and dumped it in the yeast. Was kinda bummed after a good brew day only to have problems in the last step.
However I had some pretty good action in the air bubbler 12 hours later. Was wondering if anyone had a similar experience while attacking a Smack Pack ?

Post by **Beer-lord** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 11:04 am

It's not a necessity to use the yeast nutrient in the snack pack unless its really old. While it does help, good, healthy yeast will do it's job.
I'm not a huge Wyeast fan but have run into older packs where even after smacking and opening the nutrient, the pack didn't swell. Still made a starter and things were fine.
I think yeast are stronger than we give them credit for. And those packs are for 5 gallon batches so with 3 gallons and a starter, you should be golden.

Ricklust · Post by **Ricklust** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 11:11 am

Thanx...the only swelling I had was the palm of my hand.
I just went on and pitched the pack into the fermenter at 67* and seems to be happy in there.
That was my first experience with a "Smack Pack"

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berryman · Post by **berryman** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 2:08 pm

I have ran into this before and not a problem. My method...Take the pack out of fridge. night before and let warm up to room temp. smack in the morning and let swell until time to pitch. Had some that look like a balloon ready to pop and some that don't swell at all and still work fine. I do usually make a starter though, I have found that more reassuring that the yeast is active but not always necessary.

Ricklust · Post by **Ricklust** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 2:11 pm

I assume it will only swell if the nutrient pack was successfully busted.
Right ?

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berryman · Post by **berryman** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 2:32 pm

Ricklust wrote:I assume it will only swell if the nutrient pack was successfully busted.
Right ?

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I can't 100% answer that but think that is correct...

mashani · Post by **mashani** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 2:33 pm

Ricklust wrote:I assume it will only swell if the nutrient pack was successfully busted.

Theoretically, however sometimes they puff up a little bit if they stay warm for a while smack pack or not. But not like a hard balloon about to pop swelling, just slightly less "flattish". If it gets hard like a balloon and/or you can hear noise if you put your ear next to the yeast pack (yes you can!), the smack pack was busted.

What I've done with them to get that pack to smack is to feel around until I find it, get it into a corner, and then whack it with a rubber mallet while holding it in the corner (trying to be careful not to smash my fingers). A rubber mallet always seems to do the job.

Lately I've been using more Imperial yeast which has 2x as many cells to start with and no smack pack to smack.

Ricklust · Post by **Ricklust** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 3:41 pm

@mashani
That makes perfect sense.

I had that illusive little pack in the corner and smacked the heck out of it a few times but it went Houdini on me. Never thought about using my rubber mallet.
Don’t know how durable those packets are and if it would have burst and sent me frantically running back to my LHBS for more.
Now a question for using another in the future: After using my sledge hammer and still cannot burst that vitamin pack inside...

Can I take the nutrient cut & dump it in the yeast and reseal the package somehow...or...pour both the yeast and nutrients in a sanitized measuring cup and cover it with plastic wrap (how long) ? Just a thought.

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mashani · Post by **mashani** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 5:20 pm

Ricklust wrote:Can I take the nutrient cut & dump it in the yeast and reseal the package somehow...or...pour both the yeast and nutrients in a sanitized measuring cup and cover it with plastic wrap (how long) ? Just a thought.

You "could" but I would say that all of those things just are an unnecessary infection risk. Unless it's getting really old, I'd just cut a slit in the pack and dump it in to your fermenter, and then if you want to then also find the nutrient pack after that, cut a slit in the nutrient pack and dump that in too (but this is probably unnecessary). No reason to bother with another container, plastic wrap, etc. Every other kind of yeast you can buy doesn't come with a nutrient pack to "prove viability". And they are just the same stuff in the Wyeast bag - the nutrient pack.

I mean the pack is cool and all, but really not "necessary".

If it's really old (more then say 4 months after manufacture date) you should be making a starter anyway in theory.

Ricklust · Post by **Ricklust** » Fri Nov 22, 2019 5:51 pm

Basically I just cut open the warm packet, cut open nutrient pack, dumped it in the yeast pouch, gave it a shake and then right into the fermenter. Had happy yeast in 12 hours. So mission accomplished I guess. But I did learn a lot from this post.
Thanx to all.